The owners of the Singapore-listed logistics provider Cogent Holdings Ltd. are seeking a buyer for the firm in a deal that could be worth over $280 million, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal.
The owners of Cogent Holdings Ltd. are seeking a buyer for the Singapore-based full service logistics provider, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal.
WSJ estimates a deal for Cogent, which is listed on the Singapore stock exchange, could be worth over $400 million Singapore (U.S. $280 million).
The report comes on the heels of a record-breaking year in 2015 for mergers and acquisitions overall as well as in the transportation and logistics sectors.
Last year, FedEx Corp. put up $4.8 billion for the Netherlands-based express carrier TNT Express, an acquisition that’s expected to make FedEx the largest package delivery provider in Europe, and $1.4 billion to acquire third-party logistics provider GENCO; Japan Post made a $5.1 billion offer for Toll Holdings, Australia’s largest freight transportation company; Singapore-based Global Logistics Properties paid $4.55 billion for Industrial Income Trust’s U.S. logistics portfolio, making GLP the second largest logistics property owner and operator in the country; acquisition-heavy 3PL XPO Logistics closed its $3 billion purchase of asset-based truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation services provider Con-way Inc.; UPS paid $1.8 billion for Chicago-based freight brokerage Coyote Logistics; struggling 3PL UTi Worldwide agreed to be sold ’s to Danish supply chain specialist DSV for $1.35 billion; Echo Global Logistics bought fellow Chicago-based freight broker Command Transportation for $420 million; and Swiss 3PL Kuehne + Nagel Group acquired Memphis, Tenn.-based ReTrans Inc. for an undisclosed amount – just to name a few of the high profile deals.
In the ocean shipping industry, CMA CGM of France made an all cash offer worth about $2.4 billion for container carrier APL’s parent company Neptune Orient Lines, which sold its APL Logistics business to Japan’s Kintetsu World Express for $1.2 billion back earlier in the year, and state-owned COSCO and China Shipping also confirmed a widely-rumored merger at the behest of the Chinese government.
Founded in the 1960s, Cogent offers transportation and warehouse management services to a wide range of companies, including global shipping conglomerates like A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).
Cogent declined to comment on the reports.
According to its most recent financial statements, Cogent increased profits 32 percent year-over-year to S$18.1 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2015. Revenues grew 9 percent increase to S$95.9 million during the same period.
Cogent Holdings reportedly for sale
